In 1976, trust in the news media was at a healthy 72%. By 2016, the percentage of Americans trusting the media had dropped to 32%. That's a shocking drop of 40 points. It's also dangerous. How can citizens preserve their democracy if they don't trust the information they get from the media?
Fortunately, that trust in the media is rebounding. In September of 2018, the trust among the general public had grown by 13 points to 45%. And the trust is rebounding among all political groups -- even Republicans (in spite of Trump's repeated attacks on the media).
Trust among Democrats has grown by 25 points (from 51% to 76%), among Independents by 12 points (from 30% to 42%), and among Republicans by 7 points (from 14% to 21%).
The charts above are from a recent Gallup Poll -- done between September 4th and 12th of a national sample of 1,035 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.
